Letter of Reconsideration from my eldest son

My eldest son applied to Uni High (the University of Illinois Laboratory High School). Yesterday he received a rejection letter. He took the news well and is excited about the classes he'll get to take at the school he will attend, but he decided to write a letter asking to be reconsidered. I wasn't sure how far he might get, but I thought this was highly commendable.

Then I read the letter he wrote and was even more impressed.

Here is the letter:

Dear Mr. XXXXXXX,

It is not exactly public knowledge just how you evaluate and accept students into Uni, and I know that it is hard to find room even for the select few that do make it in, but I believe that you are making a mistake in not accepting me.

So far you have read three letters of recomendation from people who have given you their opinions of me from their point of view. You’ve evaluated my test scores and essay, as well as my application, and something in one or more of these things fell short of the mark, because someone was accepted ahead of me.

I am an artistic person who tends to perceive things a little differently than the average person. I don’t play video games in my spare time, I paint and draw. I have practiced the martial and aesthetic arts since I was three years old. I’m a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and to earn that I’ve had to overcome asthma. I can tell you the strategic plan that Hitler had for Operation Babarossa, the attack on the Soviet Union, and I can tell you why this plan failed and how. I can run a two-mile race in under 13 minutes. I can tell you how to make gunpowder with no saltpeter. If you are willing to sit for five hours I can paint a museum-quality portrait of you that will one day be worth a fortune. I can tell you the name of the National Socialist Propaganda Minister of 1938 Germany, the place of Blackbeard’s death, Bartholemew Robert’s favorite liquor, the tactics of the Battle of Cowpens, the material of Washington’s artificial teeth, the producer of ABC’s Lost, and I can salsa dance if I have a partner my height. Above all this, I can see what is bigger than myself. I can see things from the perspective of others.

I believe that this small sample of my unique qualities shows that I am a very unique person with very unique gifts that would contribute a great deal to your school. I respectfully request that you reconsider your decision and accept me into your school.

Mr. XXXXXXX, I understand that it may be too late to alter your decision about accepting me into Uni and I can, to some extent, see this letter and my request from your point of view. I don’t know how many letters such as this that you get every time you have to turn students away, but I imagine that they are fairly few in number, and I hope that from them this letter stands out.

I thank you very much for reading this, and I anxiously await any reply you choose to give. Enclosed are pictures of my recent paintings and drawings, one of my poems, and my alternate history of WWII, now posted on a wiki.

Thank you for the unique opportunity to apply to your school, and I once again would like to thank you for reading this letter.

Sincerely,


XXXX XXX

He did include all of the items mentioned in his letter, which are equally impressive.

What an amazing person, and I don't think that's just fatherly pride speaking.